Sirotkin "still can't believe" he's losing F1 seat

Williams rookie Sergey Sirotkin is still in shock that he won't be driving in F1 anymore next season, as Robert Kubica and George Russell will man the two seats at the Grove-based team in 2019.

Sirotkin's financial backers, SMP Racing, revealed earlier today that they were the ones who pulled the plug on Sirotkin's drive in F1 as they weren't impressed by Williams' performance and lack of development this season. 

That means that the Russian rookie will not have his sophomore season in F1, which is a shame as he definitely has shown flashes of brilliance (his defending from Pérez in Singapore) during his very tough first season. The 22-year-old could still come back in the future, but that won't be until at least 2020.

“Definitely bad news for me," Sirotkin told a group of reporters in Abu Dhabi.

"It wasn’t that new, to be honest. I was informed from the team yesterday night that it was happening.

“Already last week I had a few talks with SMP Racing where we analyzed how the things were moving and honestly, I think it’s been quite obvious after those meetings that we don’t want to take part in it anymore.

“Already from last week I kind of knew it was going to happen. I had a week to prepare myself. But I couldn’t prepare myself yet, I still can’t believe it’s happening, so yeah, it is a tough moment for me. It all depends how you want to push the things.”

In contrast to his teammate Lance Stroll, who called the car and Williams things like "horrible", Sirotkin actually was happy with the team and with the project, which makes it all the more sad to see him go.

“I feel very sad today because I think, honestly I think that we did a good job. The way we started and how we reacted to that, and how we’ve been as one united team, to be honest I’m happy.

“For sure there were certain situations where I could do better, where I could drive better — everything in your life looking back in the past there’s many things you can do in your life, that’s the same in racing. But I think the way we worked and we are now, I feel so sad that I didn’t do all what I could in F1.

“I think I could do much, much more — let me say it in the way that if at some point I had another chance I’m really ready to use it and prove that I could show much more than for obvious reasons I could not do this year.”

Let's see if anyone will take a punt on him in the future, he's still very young!